Since we had just traveled to the U.S. in October, Dan and I decided to spend the holidays in Europe this year. After a quiet Christmas in London, we flew to Zurich on the 27th for a 5 day Switzerland holiday. We took an early flight and arrived at our hotel in Zurich by 10am, so we had the whole day to explore the city. Our hotel was right by the lake so our first stop was Lake Zurich to check out the beautiful mountain views and stroll along the banks. We then followed the Bahnhofstrasse (Zurich's main shopping street), which runs along the Limmat river up through the Altstadt (Old Town) area.
Lake Zurich:
Limmat river:
Munsterbrucke bridge:
Our first stop was Sprungli; Switzerland's most famous chocolatier, whose main location is on Paradeplatz. Paradeplatz (Parade Square) was the location of a medieval market until the 19th century and is now the modern center of the city and home to many Swiss bank headquarters. We had some delicious hot chocolates and luxembourgerli (mini macaroons.)
After our break we continued up Bahnhofstrasse, through some of the cobbled streets of the old town and up to Lindenhof park. Lindenhof is the oldest part of Zurich and the site of the Romans in 15 BC. It is also up on a hill and offers great views of the city.
trams on Bahnhofstrasse:
Altstadt area:
Lindenhof:
views from Lindenhof:
After climbing back down the hill we crossed the river into the Niederdorf area, a more village-like section of Old Town. We strolled along the cobblestone streets down to the Grossmunster cathedral. The largest cathedral in Zurich, Grossmunster was founded by Charlemagne on the site of the graves of Zurich's patron saints Felix and Regula and their servant Exuperantius.
Niederdorf:
Charlemagne statue in crypt of Grossmunster:
stained glass windows by Augusto Giacometti:
views from Grossmunster tower:
Munsterbrucke bridge:
Fraumunster:
St. Peterskirche:
We then went back to the hotel for a quick nap before heading out again for a delicious fondue dinner. We actually ended up getting both fondue and raclette, so it was a little bit of a cheese overload but it was amazing. After strolling the streets some more we headed back to the hotel.
train station:
Bahnhofstrasse:
The following morning we decided to head to the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum) as we had realized the day before that neither of us really knew anything about Swiss history and how it had become a country. Most of the placards in the museum were in only German and French but I was able to fumble us through on my French and we learned a little more about their history. After more strolling through the Niederdorf area, we headed over to the Kunsthaus art museum. The museum contains a lot of impressionist works and loans from artists such as Rembrandt, Monet and Picasso, as well as prominent Swiss artists. After the art museum, we made our way towards the lake for lunch at Sternen Grill, a sausage stand serving bratwurst wrapped in paper, crusty rolls and beer. It was delicious and by far the only reasonably priced meal we ate in Zurich.
Swiss national museum:
Niederdorf (with Grossmunster in the background):
Sternen Grill:
After lunch we checked out the Opera House (which we couldn't go in) and then took a tram down to the botanical gardens. The main section of the botanical gardens were closed so it was a quick visit but there were some nice views of the lake and it was interesting to see another part of town. We headed back to our hotel for another afternoon nap before grabbing dinner at a great Italian restaurant in the Bellevue area.
Opera House:
drinking from the public fountains (all the public fountains have fresh drinking water from the lake):
The next morning we took the train to St. Moritz. It was a lovely train ride climbing through the Alps, gaining elevation and snow as we went and passing adorable little Swiss villages. The railroad is actually a UNESCO world heritage railroad and they made announcements pointing out landmarks and great views along the way.
views from the train:
We arrived in Samedan, a smaller town about 5 minutes outside St. Moritz, and checked into our hotel. After exploring Samedan, an adorable little village, we hopped on the train to St. Moritz. We walked around the town there, grabbed a coffee to warm up and then headed back to Samedan for dinner.
our hotel, Hotel Bernina:
Samedan:
St. Moritz:
carving an ice bar:
The next morning we got up early for our first day of skiing. We had amazing weather, bright skies, sparkling snow, and not too cold. The conditions were great and the views were awesome. We had been worried about crowds as this is the busiest time of year but there were so many lifts that none of the lines were too bad. Our only complaint was the lift lines were not organized very well at all people were quite pushy, but we got used to it quickly and learned to push back;)
my favorite thing (windshields on the lifts):
at the top of the mountain:
cable car to the top:
There are 34 restaurants on the mountain, most serving proper lunches and you have to make a reservation. Feeling that was ridiculous, we stuck to the one place with take-away food both days but did enjoy drinks at one of the nicer restaurants with some great views. We had two great days of skiing followed by cozy nights in the hotel lounge.
Gluhwein (mulled wine):
Our last night was New Years Eve. Being exhausted from skiing, we struggled to stay up until midnight but we had a good pizza dinner in the Italian restaurant at the hotel and managed to stay up for the fireworks display, which we could see by climbing out the window of our hotel room and standing on the roof.
The next morning we took the train back to Zurich and flew home, enjoying the scenery again along the way.
town of Burgen:
Switzerland is definitely one of the most beautiful countries we've visited and it was a great place for a holiday break.
